Are you ready to put yourself out there? Eager to find yourself professionally? Don’t rush to commit to a career path! Take the time to consider your options and do some research. Careers demand a lot of us: it’s important we dedicate our time to one that will uplift us insteading of bringing us down. Before you take a big step forward on the road toward future success, do some legwork to make sure you’re on the right path.
Know What You Want
Understanding what you want to accomplish and what you value is critical for finding a career that suits you best. Before you start pounding the pavement, take some time to evaluate your wants and needs. What are your deal breakers? What are the things you HAVE to have in order to thrive professionally?
These are just a few of the things to keep in mind when figuring out what you need in a career:
- Pay: Do you want to work hourly or for a salary? Interested in a steady paycheck or looking to earn more through commissions? What is the minimum starting salary you’re willing to settle for? How much do you want to make?
- Opportunities for advancement: Do you want a career that offers room for professional growth?
- Skill development: Are you interested in learning more skills and developing new competencies? Do you want a career that encourages you to continue learning and training?
- Scheduling flexibility: Do you want to set your own hours as a freelancer, or do you want a set schedule? Do you want an in-person work environment or would you prefer to go hybrid or full remote?
- Societal impact: Do you want a job that makes a difference? Is there a particular community you want to serve or aid in some way?
- Working conditions and culture: Do you need disability accommodations? Do you have a vehicle that can weather the wear and tear of commutes? Does this career foster the kind of culture you want to be a part of?
- Work/life balance: How demanding is the job, time-wise? Are you expected to be on call all the time? Does this career leave you time to have a personal life and enjoy other pursuits? How much time do you need for yourself?
Having a wish list is important because it’ll encourage you to not settle for something that doesn’t work for you. It’s okay to be a little picky when searching for a career: this is something that you’re going to be spending a good chunk of your life doing. It should be something that enhances and works with the life you want, not something that makes you miserable.
What’s in Your Toolbox?
The next step is to assess your own capabilities. What are you good at? What skills do you possess? It doesn’t necessarily have to be technical skills: soft skills like being good at negotiating, public speaking, and/or working in a collaborative environment matter. Think about the kinds of things you like to do: do you enjoy being creative? Do you like building things? Do you take joy in problem-solving? What are the things you do that impart a sense of satisfaction and pride, and are these things you can do to earn a living?
Once you understand the raw talents you possess, you can refine them into career-ready skills. Knowing what your strengths are will make it much easier to find a career path that offers you many opportunities to flex those particular muscles.
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
It’s not wrong to have a “dream job” but you shouldn’t pin all your hopes on it. Make a list of different career paths you’re interested in exploring. Remember: you’re not committing to anything yet. Give yourself permission to research career fields that seem difficult to access or lie outside of your comfort zone. You never know what unexpected career path could be right for you.
Consider the Bookends
When researching a career, consider the “bookends”: the start and end of that career path. In other words: the career requirements to get your foot in the door and the long-term outlook of that career. What do you need to get started? Do you need a degree or skill certification? How soon can you be ready to pursue this career path? You also need to consider how relevant this career path will be. Some jobs become redundant over time due to technological advancements and industry shifts. Are you setting yourself on a path that will be demolished in a decade? When researching a career, look at the health of the industry as a whole and consider societal trends. Is this an evergreen field, or is this a “hot” career that could cool off over time?
Go to the Source
Do you have friends, mentors, or acquaintances that work in a career you’re interested in? This is where soft skills come in handy! Take that person out to lunch, buy them a coffee, and bend their ear. Get an honest perspective on this career from someone with first-hand experience working in it. They can help you set realistic goals and expectations. It’s very easy to build up fantasies of what a career can be like, so it’s crucial to go to the source and find out what it’s REALLY like before you commit to it.
If you don’t already have a friend or someone you met through networking to give you this insider perspective, you could always reach out to someone working in the industry and request an informational interview. This is NOT a job interview: it’s a fact-finding mission. You’re (politely!) requesting their time to learn more about their field/company.
“You might consider volunteering to make connections and explore a career field,” said Gina Pinch, Rio Salado College Faculty Chair for Business, Management, and Public Administration. “For example, if you think you might want a career working with animals, could you volunteer at a shelter or zoo first?”
Another more labor-intensive option is to see if you can get an internship in the field you’re interested in. This can require some sacrifice: most internships are unpaid, and they can take up about as much time as a normal job would. The advantage to doing an internship is that you get direct knowledge about how the industry works, what the working conditions are like, and get a feel for the culture. Make a strong enough impression and you may even get a proper job offer at the end of it.
Put Yourself Out There
A large part of career research is solitary. It involves spending hours online looking at salary information at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, researching career requirements on company websites, reading reviews and testimonials from people in the industry, cold-calling and/or emailing professionals for their opinions and hard-won insight. But part of legwork is getting up and going on the move, so it’s important to get yourself out there. Go to networking events. Attend mixers and public events related to the career paths you’re researching. Go to job fairs and speak with recruiters and representatives on site. Join a professional association to get your foot in the door. Serendipity is part of professional success: being at the right place at the right time and knowing the right people. The more you put yourself out there, the greater the chances are you’ll cross paths with someone who could help you achieve your ambitions.
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